“If you buy a plastic watch, the next day the model has already changed. It is somehow no longer the style of the current generation. They would like to live with it (a watch) for a long time,” said Ueli Trachsel, director of finance at watchmaker TAG Heuer International SA.

TAG Heuer, which does not make plastic watches, is strongly promoting its higher-priced steel and gold brands.

“The trend has changed, the consumer wants to have a well-positioned product with a certain image,” Trachsel said.

Ste Suisse Microelectronique et d’Horlogerie SA (SMH) has also had good success with its new “Irony” steel-watch brand.

SMH President Nicolas Hayek is credited with helping to save the Swiss watch industry in the 1980s with his successful marketing of the firm’s plastic “Swatch” watches, still the dominant plastic Swiss watch brand.”